After my fun weekend vacation at Coachella, I got back to the daily grind this past week. This ‘grind’ will continue up until two weeks before the World Series. Right now, I feel like its poker’s version of the playoffs. I might’ve covered this in an earlier blog but it really is. With the EPT & WPT championships closing out each of their respective years and then the FTOPS & SCOOP back-to-back it’s a lot of poker crammed into a little over a month. Once this finishes there’s a quick two week break and after that it’s straight into the World Series. I might be taking this whole playoff thing too seriously. I’m doing my best to grow a legit playoff beard and not trim it at all like in the NHL playoffs until I’m finished in the middle of May. I’ll try my best unless my girlfriend demands I trim it.

Since I’ve been back home I’ve been playing a ton and I’ve been playing great. I had a final table streak going from Sunday, April 20th until this past Sunday. And this past Sunday I got 11th in the 100r so I barely missed out on one. The only day I took off was Thursday and every other day I seriously had at least one final table. It was an absurd run and I made a ton of money this week. It’s really helped cushion my online bankroll especially with the FTOPS and SCOOP coming up. Next year hopefully UB can get a series going around this time. With so many good tournaments online and few live, almost all poker players, casual and professional, will be found online. So why not get a series going for UB around this time.

Lately, my game has really taken a dramatic turn for the better. My reads have been on point as well as my focus. I’d say I’ve been “in the zone”. Still, to this day, I’m not exactly sure what the phrase means but I get it. First time I ever heard it was when Reggie Miller just kept lighting up the Knicks in the playoffs for 30 points a night. So having a final table streak of 6 days has got to be poker’s version of being “in the zone”.

I only had one win though but poker’s not all about the win, it’s about the money. I had 3 2nds though which was perfectly acceptable with me. After my win on my day off, Thursday, I did what has become tradition for me. I took some friends out to dinner to celebrate. It’s nice to treat yourself to a good dinner but it’s no fun without friends. I think this is definitely a smart way to not spend your money carelessly. Granted my celebratory dinners can get a little expensive sometimes, it helps say to myself: “Okay, we’re treating friends to a nice dinner. Then we can move forward.” It really helps my psyche and closes the book on that specific win. So maybe if you don’t enjoy going out to dinner too much, pick something else enjoyable that can be treated as a release.

Well, that’s about it this week. Back to the grind. I’ll pretty much being playing almost nonstop until the middle of May. Good luck at the tables!!!